According to BostonGlobe.com, it “would be a surprise to see Rob Gronkowski play in any of New England’s preseason games” in 2014. He is practicing during both 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 drills.

SMITTY: I don’t think any Rob Gronkowski owners want to see him taking any more hits than he has to, and I highly-doubt the lack of action will impact his ability to pull in touchdown passes from Tom Brady. If healthy all year long, and that’s a big if, Gronk could easily pull in 80 passes for well over 1,100 yards and a strong shot at double-digit touchdowns, if not more like 12+ (and Brady could return to the top 3-5 for fantasy QBs for one more season). If I had to predict a number of games played for Gronk this upcoming season, I’d say 13-14, but anything can happen. Checkout where we have Rob Gronkowski ranked on our Week 1 Power Rankings.